Riverside - thoughts?

[introclaus]

Seeing that they apparently are gazinwales' favorite band, I thought we could talk about them a bit. I recently got into the band (yeah, about time, right?) big-time, which is kind of funny considering I was the one promoting the band to the Scandinavian media on their debut album when I worked with Ken Golden for his promo stuff over there.

I honestly never cared much for the band until their 2013 album "Shrine of New Generation Slaves" (my #33 of that year), which saw the band going for a more analogue/organic sound rather than the typical polished prog sound, and musically also borrowing from the 70's hard rock style. I know this album is one of the least appreciated albums of theirs by most hardcore fans, but to me that was kind of the turning point.

Well, stubborn me kind of didn't care enough to listen to the next two albums until very recently when I somehow chose to put "Wasteland" on while doing some reports for work - I ended up playing it non-stop for 2 days straight, and completely fell in love with that disc. Again, this is an album most Riverside fans don't care for, as evidenced by gazinwales' comments on his other post. However, there's something to the album that really connects with me in an emotional way, and it's not the lyrics because I rarely pay attention to lyrics when listening to music.

Realizing that I actually owned most of their catalogue (except 2015's "Love, Fear and the Time Machine") I added them all to my itunes playlist and began listening chronologically. My favorites are still the two mentioned above, but I can see the quality in each and everyone of them.

What's y'alls take on Riverside? Favorites - least favorites ...

[T'ski]

I love Riverside, have ever since I heard "Loose Heart" on the LaserCD website (I think thats where I heard it), almost 20 years ago.

Great combination of the dreamy Pink Floyd sound and heavier melodic prog. Can't say which is my favorite but "Love, Fear and the Time Machine" sticks out, though I believe its because its the final album with Piotr on guitar.

And I agree that "Wastleland" isn't up to par with the rest of the catalog, and again, its probably due to the fact its the first album without Piotr. You can hear and feel his absence.

[gazinwales]

Riverside are not my fave band, they are as I posted my fave active prog band
Actually Wasteland and SONGS are my least listened too overall, with LFATTM being my fave Riverside release.
At first I hated it as I found it a little too mellow, but it really grew on me and after hearing the live versions on the 'Lost'n'Found' album.
Now it really hits me with it's very subtle bits of light and shade, plus it's quite emotional as it was Piotr last album proper with the band.
Also worth checking out is Lunatic Soul, last album was a prog classic, with some mesmerising melodies with some Mike Oldfield/JMJ influences.

[introclaus]

Riverside are not my fave band, they are as I posted my fave active prog band

Haha, yeah sorry about that - I meant to write that, but got carried away in my stream-of-thought

Actually Wasteland and SONGS are my least listened too overall, with LFATTM being my fave Riverside release. At first I hated it as I found it a little too mellow, but it really grew on me and after hearing the live versions on the 'Lost'n'Found' album. Now it really hits me with it's very subtle bits of light and shade, plus it's quite emotional as it was Piotr last album proper with the band.

See, that's why I think this is interesting - I obviously like the two albums everyone else hates (typical, hah!), and I haven't even listened to the one y'all like the most (well, at least you and T'ski both mention that "Love, Fear...." is the one that sticks out). I'll go remedy that now and spend some time with that one.

Also worth checking out is Lunatic Soul, last album was a prog classic, with some mesmerising melodies with some Mike Oldfield/JMJ influences.

Yeah, I got fed up with both Oldfield and Jarre in my high school days, so I doubt it'll be for me, lol

[LarryD]

Riverside was way up there on the love chart for me when they first came out ....... their first 3 discs are the best IMO, with Second Life Syndrome being the best of all of them.....I think the last disc that I liked was Rapid Eye Movement, or maybe Anno Domine but after that it was downhill for me ...... I think losing Piotr really hurt the band but I had stopped listening to them long before that.

Their first Prog Power show was legendary and amazing ....... their second show was hit or miss depending on where you were with the band at the time.

Second Life Syndrome is a wonderful prog metal disc. Period. Out of the context of the trilogy, this stands alone as one of the best prog metal discs of all time for me. It is just pure magic. Some will say that Out of Myself is their best, and I won't argue because that trilogy is really special and everyone has their favorite.

This was a special prog metal band. Maybe they still are to some people - but I think they lost their magic when they lost Piotr.

[Packgrog]

My favorites from them are easily Out of Myself, Rapid Eye Movement, and the Voices in My Head EP. The later stuff, even with Piotr, just hasn't done as much for me. I only saw them live once, with Jolly opening (also a good band), and was bummed that they didn't do any material from OoM. I don't think I've even listened to Wasteland, but I've tried the other stuff. They've moved on, and just haven't held my interest as much.

[Mardoch]

My favorite stuff is all up through ADHD, and after that I sort of lost interest. Those first albums all still stand the test of time, though.

[MitchG]

I really like this band, and like things about just about all of their albums (except Eye of the Soundscape which just seems like a throwaway to me). I actually think Wasteland is wonderful. Gun to my head I would probably pick Shrine... as my favorite.

I'm sad I never got to see them w/ Piotr, but I did see their last tour and they absolutely blew me away...just a transcendent show. Mariusz is an amazing singer and bass player. I'm really enjoying the last couple of Lunatic Soul albums as well.